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CAPLOOKS
Green Signal
 Delhi:
Love for nature, even if misplaced, is not Maneka Gandhi's sole preserve.
Last month, when Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh called for
a meeting of Congress chief ministers to discuss an amendment (read dilution)
to the stringent-and antiquated-Forest Conservation Act, he got a terse
reply from Sonia Gandhi addressed to all Congress chief ministers. It
warned of the "inherent dangers in seeking hasty amendments to the
Act" and blamed the states for "lack of vigilance" in its
implementation. The conclave will not take place.
Shooting From The Lip
Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
was clearly not overstating his case when he told the BJP National Executive
recently that General Pervez Musharraf had no sense of history. The visiting
Pakistan president, who charmed the Indian media with his style, is probably
not a trivia buff either. His lack of knowledge was shown up when, on
his visit to Rajghat, he asked minister-in-waiting Digvijay Singh whether
Mahatma Gandhi had been shot dead or killed with a sword. Ouch.
Over Ruled
Thiruvananthapuram: The imperious Kerala
Assembly Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman likes to be known as a stickler
for rules. He has imposed restrictions on visitors to the assembly complex,
even if they are ex-ministers or MLAs. Recently, Purushothaman walked
into an elevator in the Assembly and found it too crowded. So he ordered
that one lift be reserved for the Speaker. He got away with all this,
but had to eat his words when he addressed a CPI(M) woman member as "my
dear girl". He now calls her "respected lady".
Follow The Leader
 Lucknow:
The sense of loss was magnified for at least a dozen people during the
funeral procession of "Bandit Queen" Phoolan Devi. As the cortege
made its sad way from Varanasi to Mirzapur, the twelve had their pockets
picked. Perhaps the thieves were followers of a Samajwadi Party leader
who figures in police records as a pickpocket.
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